A head contractor unlawfully blocked ETU organisers' access to labour hire linesworkers on an interstate power transmission project, the Federal Court has found, and the various reasons it provided for refusing entry appear "disingenuous".
The continuing power struggle between the RTBU's Victorian branch and the leadership of its locomotive division has again played out in court, division secretary Paris Jolly failing on appeal to prove that the union took adverse action against him because of an unsuccessful demerger attempt.
A proposed rival union to the ANMF might not get to the starting line, after the established employee organisation foreshadowed that it will seek to have the newcomer's registration bid thrown out because it does not meet legislative requirements and has no reasonable prospect of success.
The Federal Court has refused to make interim orders staving off RTBU Victorian branch resolutions directing its locomotive division to stop doing business with former divisional secretary-turned-consultant Marc Marotta, who is also servicing a breakaway union urging members to make the switch.
The FWC has suppressed a document filed by a proposed new nursing union in support of its registration, after the ANMF told the tribunal it contains "serious allegations of fraud and impropriety" against it and some officials.
A nurse and one-time member of the ANMF Victorian branch council is seeking to register a rival union that claims it "will be the voice for nurses across Victoria".
The AMWU has after more than two years succeeded in gaining FWC approval to expand its eligibility rules so it can get a toehold in BHP's internal labour hire operation.
The AMWU claims in a bid to win coverage of extra classifications at a Queensland mineral field that the AWU has "ignored or failed" to properly service them and left it with the "full burden" of negotiating agreements on their behalf.